Chapter 6 - FIFTY MILLION REASONS TO LIE
My son was born seven hours later.
Richard stayed outside the delivery room because the doctors refused to let him pace inside it.
Apparently intimidating a corporate board was easier than waiting for a grandchild.
When they finally placed my baby against my chest, every sound in the room disappeared.
He was tiny.
Warm.
Alive.
His hair was dark.
His fingers curled around mine with impossible strength.
I cried harder than I had cried on the mountain.
“Hello.”
His eyes remained closed.
“I’m your mother.”
The words almost broke me.
“I’m still here.”
I named him Oliver Richard.
The first name was my mother’s favorite.
The middle name belonged to the father I had almost never known.
When Richard entered the room, I watched him notice the name card.
OLIVER RICHARD VALE.
He stopped walking.
“You gave him my name?”
“Part of it.”
He looked away for several seconds.
“I don’t deserve that.”
“Neither did I deserve to meet you on a cliff.”
He laughed softly.
Then he took Oliver into his arms.
The most powerful man in the insurance industry looked terrified of an eight-pound baby.
“Support his head.”
“I am.”
“You’re holding him like a financial document.”
“I do not hold financial documents.”
“You know what I mean.”
Oliver made a small sound.
Richard froze.
“Was that normal?”
I smiled.
“Yes.”
“You’re sure?”
“Dad.”
He looked at me.
This time the word did not surprise either of us.
“He’s fine.”
Richard lowered his eyes toward Oliver.
“Your grandmother would have loved you.”
My chest tightened.
“You really loved my mother.”
He nodded.
“More than she ever knew.”
Two days later, Detective Cole arrived with the district attorney.
Preston had been formally charged with attempted murder, conspiracy, insurance fraud, forgery, and several financial crimes.
Vanessa faced conspiracy and fraud charges.
Neither had received bail.
“Preston is blaming Vanessa.”
Cole sat near the window.
“Vanessa is blaming Preston.”
“Romantic.”
The district attorney almost smiled.
“People become remarkably less loyal when prison becomes real.”
“What about Leonard Cross?”
“Arrested yesterday.”
Richard’s expression remained hard.
“Our former vice president.”
The district attorney nodded.
“He admitted accepting payments to bypass internal safeguards.”
“Did he know Preston intended to kill me?”
“That is less clear.”
I held Oliver closer.
“So Preston could still claim he only committed fraud.”
“Not successfully.”
Cole opened a folder.
“We recovered data from Vanessa’s phone.”
My stomach tightened.
“What data?”
“A deleted voice memo.”
Richard looked at him.
“Deleted?”
“Nothing stays deleted as easily as people think.”
Cole placed a small speaker on the table.
“This recording was made four days before Ravenstone.”
He pressed play.
Vanessa’s voice filled the room.
“What happens if she survives?”
Preston answered.
“She won’t.”
My heartbeat slowed.
Vanessa again.
“You don’t know that.”
Preston laughed.
“Ravenstone is a four-hundred-foot drop in winter.”
A pause followed.
Then Vanessa said.
“And the baby?”
Preston answered without hesitation.
“Collateral.”
I covered Oliver’s ear even though he could not understand.
Richard stood so quickly his chair struck the wall.
“Turn it off.”
Cole stopped the recording.
Richard walked toward the window.
I had never seen rage look so controlled.
The district attorney spoke carefully.
“This recording is devastating for Preston.”
“Good.”
My voice sounded unfamiliar.
Cole looked at me.
“There’s more.”
Of course there was.
“There was another voice at the end.”
I looked at him.
“Who?”
“We don’t know.”
He played the recording again.
After Preston said collateral, several seconds passed.
Then a male voice spoke.
“You’re both talking too much.”
The recording ended.
Richard turned around.
“That’s not Leonard Cross.”
“No.”
“Do we know whose voice it is?”
“No.”
I thought about Northstar Holdings.
“Northstar.”
Everyone looked at me.
“The third person.”
Richard’s eyes narrowed.
“You think he’s connected?”
“Preston said Northstar gets paid after the funeral.”
Cole nodded slowly.
“We’re investigating it.”
“What does Preston say?”
“Nothing.”
“That means something.”
Cole agreed.
“Preston talks about everything except Northstar.”
Richard returned to the chair.
“Which means he’s afraid.”
That evening, Richard received a phone call.
I watched him answer.
His expression changed within seconds.
“What happened?”
He listened.
“Where?”
Another pause.
“Secure the building.”
He disconnected.
I sat up.
“What?”
Richard looked at Detective Cole.
“Someone broke into Whitaker Atlantic’s policy archive.”
Cole stood.
“When?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
“What did they take?”
Richard’s eyes moved to mine.
“Madison’s original application file.”
My mouth went dry.
“But you have copies.”
“Yes.”
“Then why steal the original?”
No one answered immediately.
I looked down at Oliver.
The case against Preston was already overwhelming.
The stolen file would not save him.
May you like
Which meant whoever had taken it was not trying to protect Preston.
They were trying to protect someone else.
